Pharma, Healthcare & Lifesciences
A new competitive landscape is emerging in Pharma & life sciences sector as demographic shifts, mounting cost pressures, advancing digitization, emerging scientific breakthroughs, and powerful new competitors are reshaping the sector.
Successful life-science organizations will look very different in the future than they do today. They likely will be smaller; more specialized, automated, digital, and agile in their operations; more sophisticated in their commercial approaches; and more integrated with providers, partners, and consumers.
The leadership skills needed with Pharma & life sciences organizations to shape and lead these organizations will also be quite different. Progressive CEOs and Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) are investing in leadership development, focusing on the skills they will need to remake the business.
Availability of a relatively small talent pool that has specific domain knowledge further increases the complexity. It is becoming incredibly difficult to find and successfully hire qualified talent with the desired skills, experience and personal attributes.
In the healthcare industry, the organizations are being buffeted by constant market shifts. New socioeconomic realities, healthcare reform legislation and accelerating scientific breakthroughs are building up to a radical change. These changes have tremendous implications, not only for industry but also for the current workforce and future talent. Healthcare companies need to design new roles and rethink their talent strategies, including the ways they recruit, train, motivate and retain the best teams.
At WalkWater, our deep domain expertise and global reach, helps us understand the unique requirements of a talent search in this industry. We also have the necessary reach to find the right candidate across geographies. Our approach of intensive client partnering ensures that we are never out of sync with our clients.
We’ve done some extensive work in this industry. For example, in one of our recent assignments, WalkWater ran a global search process and mapped senior Commercial leaders across 120 companies globally from Genomics and Biotech industry. The result was the President of a Genomic company joining our client organisation as a Chief Commercial Officer.
Within Pharma, Healthcare and Life Sciences sector (PHL), there are several sub-sectors; each of which requires unique skillsets that are not necessarily transferable between sub-sectors.
A representative set of key roles done by our PHL Practice includes:
- CEO, An emerging firm focuses on providing genomic sequencing and bioinformatics services to Plant, Animal & Microbial businesses
- CEO, A Digital Diagnostic solution provider
- CIO, A genomics-driven research and diagnostics company
- Marketing Director, Global Agri Sciences Company
- Chief Commercial Officer, A genomics-driven research and diagnostics company
- VP Formulation-R&D, An emerging specialty pharmaceutical company developing novel medicines
- VP-Operations, A leading, research–based global pharmaceutical company
- Director-Medical Affairs, A global leader in advancing personalized oncology treatment
- Head-BD Out-licensing, An emerging specialty pharmaceutical company developing novel medicines
- Head-BD-Out licensing, An emerging specialty pharmaceutical company developing novel medicines
- Head-Business Process Excellence, An Indian multinational pharmaceutical company
- Director-Strategy, Marketing & Technology, World leader in Animal Nutrition Solutions company
- Director-Pharmacovigilance, A global Clinical Research Organization
- Directors-Sales, A global leader in excipient solutions
Case Studies
Company – A VC funded genomics and clinical data driven diagnostics and drug discovery research service company
Role – Chief Commercial Officer – USA
Location – Foster City, California
Situation:
Our client is a genomics and clinical data driven diagnostics and drug discovery research services company, offering Diagnostics services in the Indian Market and Genomics Research Services in the US.
The firm intended to start its Research Services businesses in the US, focused on working with Pharma companies in the USA to begin with, and then expand to global markets.
Critical Business Issue:
The company wanted a senior Business Leader who would help facilitate a strong foothold for itself and contribute to the growth and expansion of the Genomic Services business in the US market. This role would report to the Group CEO based in the USA.
Search Challenges:
The company needed a high-profile candidate with excellent relationships in the Pharma & Biotech industry in the USA. Prior experience of selling Genomics services & products / Research Services to Pharma, biotech institutions in the US market was highly preferable. The challenge was to find someone currently working in an established organization but with the right entrepreneurial mindset. The talent landscape was spread across USA and mapping the right talent was in itself a challenge.
WalkWater Talent Strategy:
WT team partnered closely with the investors and the management team to understand the person fit, skillset mapping and critical competencies assessment. WT ran a global search process and mapped senior Commercial leaders across 120 companies globally from Genomics & Biotech industry.
Result:
The search resulted in the President of RareCyte Inc, (a Cell-based liquid biopsy platform provider of rare-cell oncology analysis & prenatal testing solutions) joining the company. He was responsible for successfully building the research services business in US.
Client – The company is an innovation-driven, clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company
Role – Vice President, Formulation Development, CMC and Analytical
Location – Delhi
Situation:
The company is an innovation-driven, clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company, with a vision to develop novel drugs for antibiotics-resistant acne and other opportunist pathogens through a unique pipeline of antibiotics that retard resistance development.
This start-up company intended to develop products for the US market and has the research & development centre in Delhi.
Critical Business Issue:
To lead the development centre at Delhi, the company was looking for a seasoned research professional with PhD in pharmaceutics with 15-20 years of experience in Drug development out of which he / she should have spent atleast 5 years in Dermatology topicals development at leadership levels.
Search Challenges:
The most critical challenge in the search was to find a leader who has a startup culture fit. The company was looking for a seasoned professional, having a global mindset but with the ability to manage large team and the head the development centre. The main challenge was to identify leadership talent from core Dermatology background.
WalkWater Strategy:
WT mapped pharma companies who has R&D centres with focus on Dermatology. Potential candidates were identified from companies that has developed products for regulated markets and has experience in NDA filing. WT was focused on finding the right cultural fit as this was a start up. WT mapped companies like Dr Reddys, Glenmark, Sun Pharma, GSK, and screened 30 + senior talent before presenting 4 suitable candidates to the management.
Result:
The Search resulted in the Associate Vice President, R&D from Sun Pharma joining the company. He continues to be in this role for over 2 year and has been highly successful in building the development centre and filing for NDA in the US.
Client – The global leader in excipient solutions
Role – Director Operations
Location: Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu
Situation:
Our client is a global market leader in the excipient field with operations in more than 100 countries. The company in involved in the production and marketing of Pharmaceutical excipients worldwide for oral solid dosage formulations.
For this global major, India was clearly a strategic market for both exports and domestic sales. The company entered India by acquiring a promoter driven Microcrystalline Cellulose producing company at Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. The plant was under transformation towards global standards. The company intends to achieve regulatory approval for all global standards for the plant at Cuddalore – FDA, EDQM, and Japanese Pharmacopeia.
Critical Business Issue:
The site at Cuddalore was being managed by an expatriate on deputation. The company had identified the need to fill this senior management position with an Indian national. This was a highly critical role which impacted the profitability and business plans of India and hence the need was for a seasoned professional who could bring the depth and managerial expertise required to manage this role based at Cuddalore.
Search Challenges:
The challenge in this role was to identify a seasoned site operations head with fluency in written and spoken Tamil.
In addition to the vernacular requirement, the need was to identify senior talent who could bring in his expertise on “Change Management” as this was an acquired plant. S/He was expected to work with company’s Global management in implementing change. The incumbent was also expected to bring experience in managing IR issues as the Cuddalore area was known for having politically motivated union issues.
WalkWater Strategy:
With the search being so narrow for identifying a leadership talent suitable for the role and Tamil fluency being a prerequisite, WT executed an all India search across API and Excipient manufacturing companies. After an extensive mapping of talent across the target sectors, WT shortlisted and presented five candidates.
Result:
The search resulted in the joining of senior professional who was with a German startup establishing the manufacturing facility for both Allopathic and herbal products in India. This individual has in his past, worked with companies like Apotex Research, Glenmark, Dr Reddy’s and Cipla.
Industry & Talent Insights
Sub sectors of Expertise
Pharmaceuticals
Biotech
Life Sciences
Genomics
Devices & Diagnostics
CRO/CRAMS
Speciality Chemicals
To experience the WalkWater Way, write to us at client@walkwatertalent.com